Assertions that Russia is attempting to revive the Soviet Union are fiction, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, reaffirming that Moscow does not harbor imperial ambitions.
Stressing Russia's respect for the former Soviet republics' independence, Lavrov said relations with them are forged "exclusively on the principles of equality and consideration of each other's interests."
"Statements about 'neo-imperial' ambitions, especially about plans to restore the USSR belong to the genre of fantasy and do not deserve serious discussion," Sputnik cited Lavrov as saying.
The European Union's policy in the post-Soviet countries often aims to break age-old ties while the implementation of its Eastern Partnership initiative can be labeled as bleak, Lavrov said in an interview with the International Affairs monthly.
